INDUSTRY TRENDS

E-book consumer favour tablets, says study

E-book consumers are opting for tablets as dedicated e-readers drop in popularity, according to a recent Book Industry Study Group (BISG) survey.

The latest instalment of the study shows that, over the course of just six months, consumers' "first choice" preference for dedicated e-readers such as those from Amazon and Barnes & Noble declined from 72 per cent to 58 per cent. Tablet devices are now the most preferred reading device for more than 24 per cent of e-book buyers, up from less than 13 per cent in August 2011.

The increase in tablet preference was not primarily for Apple's iPad (which rose by just over one per cent), but for non-Apple tablets, especially for those from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. These non-Apple devices increased from five per cent to 14 per cent over the same period.'The movement from dedicated e-readers to multi-function tablet devices is an important one for publishers to understand, as it allows them to deliver a richer, more interactive e-book experience,' said Angela Bole, BISG's deputy executive director.